Chapter 536 - Xiao Lin’s Guess
Chapter 536: Xiao Lin’s Guess
Xiao Lin had been busier than he ever was. Even though the number of guards in the city increased, Liang Taibai did not intend on changing commanders. Compared to commanding a few thousand people and relying on the defense towers, he had a much more challenging time in command.
Xiao Lin was not a genius; commanding tens of thousands of soldiers was way too difficult for him. Thankfully, Luo Jianhui’s experience helped him with most of the problems. Xiao Lin adopted a humble attitude as he learned from Luo Jianhui. He knew that the only reason he was still a commander was because of the relationship between Ibeiya and himself, which was like a bridge of trust.
Ibeiya did not cause any waves after becoming the queen. To most commoners, the king was something they paid no attention to outside of having some curiosity. These few years, even idiots knew that the real power in the kingdom was Dawn Academy.
The ministers who were loyal to the king obviously voiced their anger and objections, but they could not find anyone to stand with them. Who would care about them during the defense of the city? In the end, they looked for Ibeiya. Facing that young girl, especially with her reddened eyes and pitiful looks, they could only swallow their anger. They obviously did not know how cunning Ibeiya was.
With that, ten days passed, and the defense of the city got more and more intense. The rebels might not have been very skilled, but their bravery was admirable. They did not seem to be afraid of death or injury, and fervently sent wave after wave of attacks. If not for the lack of death energy, Xiao Lin would have thought they were undead soldiers.
After losing the defense towers, the rebels almost managed to make it to the top of the city gates a few times. However, the equipment the rebels had was too poor, and they would be forced to retreat each time, leaving behind thousands of corpses. With the torrential rain, the rotting corpses stank up half the city, causing everyone to have to block their noses.
The casualties in the royal city were not small either, and Liang Taibai was forced to recruit more soldiers from the city. Those untrained soldiers were basically cannon fodder, but that was what they needed the most. Almost half of the old and injured soldiers that were originally around had died. The soldiers from the dark clans faced the least casualties, but even they had lost almost a quarter.
The dark races were the main firepower, and Xiao Lin knew they could not afford to have the dark races die easily, which was why they needed a large amount of cannon fodder to hold the rebels back, allowing the dark clans’ soldiers more time to rest.
Xiao Lin wanted to join the fight, but was stopped by Luo Jianhui. He told Xiao Lin that it was not the time; the situation was still unclear and the commanders needed to maintain their cool. Xiao Lin accepted the suggestion. He had quickly absorbed and learned everything, including Luo Jianhui’s words and his own understanding.
“What do you feel Asabanor is doing?” It was not the first time Luo Jianhui discussed that with Xiao Lin.
“With the current situation, even with the high amount of casualties, defending the city won’t be too difficult. Asabanor sees that as well. What’s the meaning of this fruitless siege? After the dark clans joined us, our power is already equal to the rebels.”
“It’s possible that he doesn’t really care about the lives of these rebels,” Xiao Lin answered uncertainly. Looking at the corpses littered around the city, his heart suddenly quickened, as if he grasped something.
“Are you worried Asabanor will turn the corpses into undead?” Luo Jianhui smiled and said, “There’s no need to worry. I’ve asked the dark clans. Necromancy has its limitations. These corpses that haven’t been dead for long won’t have much death energy. Even if they were converted, their combat ability would be incredibly low.”
“That’s true,” Xiao Lin answered. Thanks to Ibeiya, he had established a good relationship with the dark clans recently. He had asked a lot of questions about dark magic, both to understand more about Asabanor as well as due to the fact that he had learned dark magic as well. The books in the library could not compare to personal accounts.
Initially Xiao Lin suspected Asabanor knew certain supreme magic spells. He knew that with Legend-ranked magic, destroying a city would not be anything difficult. However, those kinds of figures were all legends themselves, and would rarely show themselves. Asabanor absolutely did not have that level of skill.
Xiao Lin could not shake off a feeling of unease. He had mentioned it to Liang Taibai and some others, but never got any explanation. It was possible they felt that Xiao Lin was just facing too much pressure, especially since he was just a new student. That was why Liang Taibai gave him a day off, getting him to walk around.
Xiao Lin accepted the suggestion; he felt like he was thinking too much as well.
There was not a big change in the royal city despite the attacks. After the initial chaos, with the valiant defense of the city and the rebels not being able to take it down, the embassy also received news that the reinforcements from Dawn Academy were approaching. That quickly put the commoners at ease. Compared to the rebels, they were happier to trust Dawn Academy.
Of course, there were aspects that were affected as well. With the attack, activity levels had greatly decreased, and the price of goods in shops drastically increased as well. After a strict curfew was announced, the most bustling city in Rosa calmed down a lot. Xiao Lin walked along the streets, and most of the doors were shut. The streets were filled with rubbish, and it was unclear how long it had been since the streets were cleaned.
There was nothing much to see with the royal city in that state. Xiao Lin was supposed to pass the time, but he felt like it was better to just turn back. The rebels had not stopped their attacks, but as the days passed, the forces they sent to attack the city were decreasing.
The situation did not look bad, and Xiao Lin constantly looked for the source of his unease. Looking at the calm streets and the occasional person who passed, he had a sudden thought flash through his mind, and he quickly realized something.
The scene in front of him was familiar, which was the source of his unease. He finally remembered why it was familiar. It was like his third monthly examination, the so-called hardest amphibious assault. They were tasked to defend the fort, and it initially went very well. However, at the last moment, their foes managed to sneak into the fort, and caused all their efforts to be for naught.
If the current peace in the royal city was just a farce, then what did the enemy–no–what did Asabanor want from it?
If the enemy’s goal was to sneak into the city as well, then what did he want?